“This is altogether a new effect,” Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing “an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically” in the last four decades, he added.

One of the key points of contention I have with a lot of the mainstream coverage of the anti-SOPA/PIPA movement is that many outlets refer to it as the “anti-SOPA lobby” or something like that. What I think is lost on Chris Dodd and his cohorts is that there is no lobby. It’s not the MPAA vs. Google; it’s the interests of a few corporations vs. the voices of the American people. And I think we’ve made it clear where we stand on this issue.

The whole article, which is a great read on a smarmy character, will make you hate politics.

Under legislation passed in 2007, Mr. Dodd is barred from personally lobbying Congress for two years after leaving office. Hired as the consummate Washington insider to carry the film industry’s banner on crucial issues like piracy, Mr. Dodd ended up being more coach than player. He helped devise a strategy that called for his coalition to line up a strong array of legislative sponsors and supporters behind two similar laws — the Stop Online Piracy Act in the House, and the Protect I.P. Act in the Senate — and then to move them through the Congress quickly before possible opposition from tech companies could coalesce.